UFO sightings and old projects

After doing some major "spring cleaning" this week I found a few of my really old projects. Some that I completed, some I didn't.



Out of the many things I found, I fell upon this UFO of mine (UFO: unfinished object). It had great potential, because I put together the pattern myself and actually executed it quite nicely, but what I never got to do was make the pair for it. So this lovely little hand warmer is all by it's lonesome.

While cleaning I also found the first tote I ever made. I made this tote about three years ago, knitting and sewing all the little peices together took me forever by I did finish it. I haven't really shown anyone this bag because I couldn't find it for awhile. But here it is.



This baby is my pride and joy and the quality of it is quite grand, especially for my first tote ever. Yay for old projects that bring you joy!

goodbye mornings

The delightfully inspiring 3191 a year of mornings blog has come to a close with the close of 2007. But to my delight, they will soon start a year of evenings, how exciting.

a date with the stars

The other night I sat outside with a cup of tea, wrapped in layers of clothing and a big ole sleeping bag, and stared at the night sky. The night was silent and still. I had a date with the stars, but initially I had a date with a meteor shower. I only saw two shooting stars that night but it was wonderful just to sit and enjoy the view. Just a view days before me and my sappy little family watched one of my favorite movies, A Walk to Remember, so I was wanting to spend a night out with the stars, but I could have done without the thirty degree weather. Makes me want a telescope... pretty geeky huh?

Anyways ... this afternoon I have another date ... a date with the Redskins that is.

Collection of the week {14}

2008 shall be a fairly eventful year (I just know it) and one of the many events is the summer Olympics in China. I know it's only the fourth day of the year and I'm already thinking about the summer, but this all pertains to this week's collection.

One of many graphic designer I'm currently loving is Mike Perry. He owns a small design studio in Brooklyn, NY and I feel upon him through his book, Hand Job. I've forgotten where I first saw his book, but I do remember that when I first saw it and got past the underlying connotations of it's surprising little tittle, and after flipping through a few pages, I was completely drawn to his typographic art and I wanted to see more of his work. His style of type is so playful and inspiring, making me appreciate the basics of art itself, hand made. Who says typography is best at the keyboard? Go hand made!

Anyways, some of Mike Perry's clients consist of Urban Outfitters (a favorite of mine), The 2008 Olympics, Nylon Magazine, NY Times Magazine, Threadless, Dashboard Confessional, MTV, and he's even started his own little fashion magazine Untittled. His magazine is quite lovely, delicate, and beautiful in all it's simplicity.

Check out his site: Midwestisbest,
and you'll most definitly leave it inspired, because I know I have.

Holiday Season 2007

It's taken me a few days to recover from all the holiday chaos (As I've said in my new years blog), so in fairness it's taken me quite a bit of time to properly blog about all the holiday cheer.

It was a lovely holiday season, filled with a handful of Christmas and New Year parties, Christmas crafting and joy sharing through caroling, present giving and holiday decorating, and most of all celebrating the love of God and the birth of a Savor in the company of great friends and loving family.


Here is kind of how the season went...

Special numbers by my favorite group of boys ... Rio and I taught our kids a song that we sang when we were kids ourselves... Just thinking of it makes me giggle


Christmas crafting turned present giving, my beautiful best friends and their newest totes. Wink wink*


Christmas partying entails unique yet beautiful decorating


Club Nikon fully equipped for capturing memories. Hehe.


History lessons with memory boards


family time


game faces




and loads of laughter


best friends


and crazy cousins


and cousins that make you feel small


little girls with ice cream treats


Christmas cooking ... some of the best times during the holidays are the times spent in the kitchen cooking and chatting


My food favorite of the entire season, My Uncle Joe's oh-so delicious homemade crab dip. We killed this platter at every family gathering this season.


lovely sights on Christmas morning


sunrise before present opening


knee deep in wrapped boxes


loud cheering for Santa's surprises


presents wrapped in vintage paper... (by sister's who care, but from Homies who share)


... all the way from Iraq, with unfamiliar melodies... haha (this is my singing Hagi camel)






Present opening...


...with friends watching...


and girlfriends


...and big ole kissy sandwiches


at crazy parties


...more holiday posting to come

"I owe yous"

With the Start of this new year I thought I'd get all the "I owe yous" over and done with before I never get to them.

I owe a whole lot of people a whole lot of pictures because I've been really bad with uploading them. So, I've started to fill my picasa gallery with a handful of pictures but there's a lot more where that came from. I've got a lot more pictures from this past holiday season and pictures from early this year so if you've been looking for pictures I've taken but haven't shared... here you go: i owe you.

Hope these pictures bring you back to the many wonderful memories of this past year, and in lue of this new year ... happy memory making.

hello and goodbye

I've been lagging on the new year blogging with the leftover holiday buzz still around and with the sniffles I've caught myself, but its time I say goodbye to the last twelve months and hello to next twelve.

This past year was one for the books. God threw me curve ball after curve ball but with His grace and His love I've some how managed to get through the year... gingerly, if anything. A lot of things came so unexpected ... but with faith, trust, and an inkling of patience this past year has made me much stronger. You won't know where your going if you don't know where you've been and this past year has been quite a trip. Goodbye 2007.

Hello 08.